Allan Massie: Parks' form is hard to ignore but No10 slot looks set for Godman

Published on Friday 15 January 2010 23:36

SNOW-covered and frozen pitches put pay to club rugby again this week, the winter spell reviving calls for a mid-season break and more summer rugby. I am more sympathetic to the suggestion than I used to be while still offering the caveat that we are just as likely to have snow and frost in February and March as in December and January.

Nor am I as sure as some that a change would necessarily bring the crowds back. There are more rival attractions when the weather is fine. That said, the decision rests with the clubs. If those who favour a mid-season break can muster a majority at the SRU's AGM , so be it.

Meanwhile under-soil heating at Murrayfield and Firhill means that there is at least some rugby being played in Scotland, and last weekend's Edinburgh-Cardiff game, and last night's Glasgow-Dragons one are at least giving renewed impetus to what has been for some years a favourite topic of discussion: who should wear the No10 jersey for Scotland?

Whatever Rory Hutton did for Edinburgh or Ruaridh Jackson for Glasgow last night, neither will be at fly-half when France come to Murrayfield on 7 February. Hutton won't actually have had the chance to play another game for Edinburgh by then, since he wasn't registered for the Heineken Cup at the beginning of the season, while Jackson has played so little rugby this season that he has really not had the chance to stake his claim. So it will be either Dan Parks or Phil Godman at No10 against the French, a difficult decision for Andy Robinson.

Godman is the man in possession and did well enough in the autumn internationals. But his form has shaded since, and unless he can turn around his form with Edinburgh, selecting him for the French match will be an example of hope triumphing over recent experience.

I have never been the greatest admirer of Dan Parks, but he is undoubtedly playing very well this season – playing indeed probably the best rugby of his career. His weaknesses and limitations are well known; he tends to lie deep, rarely attacking the gain line, and he is a feeble and sometimes seemingly reluctant tackler, so much so that in defence now Glasgow's coach often has him switch position with the more robust full-back Bernard Stortoni. As against that Parks is a very fine kicker from hand, has an astute tactical brain with the ability, which Godman lacks, to control a game and enable his team to play much of it in the opposition half. Moreover he kicks every bit as well in attack as defence. Given Scotland's inability in the autumn to find a way through well-organised defences – only two tries scored in 240 minutes of rugby – picking someone who can put the ball accurately behind defences makes a lot of sense. The two tries he created in the second inter-city match were copybook examples of the value of accurate and, in the case of the second one, imaginative attacking kicks.

On balance I would prefer to see Parks recalled for the French game, but I suspect Andy Robinson will remain loyal to Godman.

That said, the prospect of Jackson and Hutton competing for the fly-half position is enticing, and all the more so because they have come up by different routes.

Jackson may be called the insider, progressing smoothly from age-group international rugby by way of the Academy to a pro contract with comparatively little experience of the amateur club game. Though he is younger than Hutton, his performances for the successful Scotland A Team in the IRB championship in Romania last summer mean that he is a few rungs higher on the ladder.

The first time I saw Rory Hutton play, about five years ago, I marked him as a player of rare talent and a future international.

But his career then seemed to stall, partly because he sensibly chose to complete his apprenticeship as an electrician.

His performances were wayward. One day he would have the Hawick faithful purring with pleasure as he glided through narrow gaps or wrong-footed defenders. Another day he would have them groaning with disappointment, even irritation, when it seemed his mind wasn't fully on the game.

Even last season this inconsistency was still evident in the two league matches against Selkirk.

At Mansfield Park he was brilliant; at Philiphaugh mediocre in a match Hawick lost despite the dominance of their pack. But even when he has played badly or seemingly carelessly there have always been flashes of rare skill.

The light-footed break he made to put Ross Rennie in for Edinburgh's first try against Cardiff was the sort of thing one has seldom seem from a Scottish fly-half in the professional game since Gregor Townsend was at his best.

Hutton is now 22-years-old, a comparatively advanced age to make the transition to the professional game.

But we should never forget that some players bloom early, others later. Grand Slam winning stand-off John Rutherford after all was 23-years-old when first capped by Scotland.